Genser: Democrats may need another white male to win the White House

Editor’s note: LIBN is reaching out to younger readers for their take on the state of New York business, Long Island and the world they are growing into. Do you know a young person whose voice should be heard in LIBN? Send us your letters and columns to jdowd@libn.com. This is the first installment of our periodic feature: “Young Voices.”

These past two years have been rough on Democrats. The start was especially arduous. Democrats were mourning Hillary’s loss, further saddened by Obama’s departure and most importantly, we were petrified by the Trump Administration.

President Trump’s supporters believe he is doing a prodigious job and should be re-elected. (Just look at his steadfast poll numbers.) Others think Trump will be impeached before the 2020 election. However, Trump isn’t likely to be impeached any more than he’s likely to release his tax returns.

Trump started campaigning for re-election almost immediately upon inauguration. Like it or not, finding an opponent with an actual chance to defeat Trump will be difficult. It is unclear whether the House of Representatives will flip Democratic within this administration. A few seats should flip but, with if the House remains in the hands of the Republicans, the next president will have difficulty accomplishing much. All Democrats can really hope for is a “rebound president” or a “stepping-stone president.” Democrats aren’t going to hit a homerun with the next president and they shouldn’t even try. Instead, Democrats need someone who can reverse Trump’s folly and return us to normalcy.

Being a progressive president right after the Trump Administration with a Republican House would be very difficult and perhaps not what is best for this country. The next president must simply, by his agreeable image, placate the Republicans. If Democrats can mollify and calm the Republicans, they could have a real shot at a progressive president in 2024 who can lead us into the future. But finding a candidate that could assuage the Republicans will certainly be a challenge.

The Democrats don’t seem to have many options right now. Some are enthusiastic about Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand.

Do not get me wrong, I would love to see another minority president. It would be progressive, unifying, and our first one was incredible. As an avid feminist, I am dying to see a female president. But would a black man or woman president be the right stepping stone? Put simply, no.

Obama had difficulty with most Republicans not only because he was a Democrat, but because of institutional racism. A black man as our president in 2020 would be controversial, as would a female president. Barring significant changes to this House, continued racism and sexism would inhibit action. Come the election in 2024, Democrats would be another step behind Republicans.

Put bluntly, Democrats need to put a middle-aged white man in the White House. For one more presidency, we need to go back to the basics of our nation’s foundational past. This person does not have to be the crème de la crème. He just needs to be someone who can appease the centrists and moderate Republicans, reverse the effects of Trump’s policy and set us up for a forward-looking president. This placeholder president would give Democrats an additional four years to get more seats in the House flipped. In 2024, after this “Rebound President,” a positively controversial and progressive leader could and should step up. Perhaps another black man, woman, transgender, LGBTQ, Jew, or honestly anyone else could lead us into the future.

Carley Cona Genser is a political activist and a student at Cold Spring Harbor High School.

2 comments

I am speechless. I can not fathom why you would publish this. It is very sad that young people are buying the media line that anyone who voted for Trump are racist and sexist. If the Democrats have candidates that care about the issues facing everyday Americans and not what Hollywood thinks are important, those candidates would be elected regardless of any identity politics.

I hear your concerns about the next presidential election. On the other hand, wouldn’t eliminating women and people of color from consideration render a Democratic win something of a Pyrrhic victory? Burying the party’s principles by conceding that only a white male could possibly prevail would be a fatalistic declaration from the start, not to mention that the strategy might not succeed anyway. I doubt that the sector of Republicans who see color and gender as barriers to their vote are likely to jump over to vote for a Democrat . I’d suggest that close attention be paid to the strategy of the DNC, which famously had a big hand in cratering the Democrats’ chances in 2016.